Who will win the English Premier League?

[theonlywayisup]

It is getting interesting at the top of the EPL. If the games in hand are won, it will be:

City 69
Chelsea 66
Arsenal 65
Liverpool 65

So who will win the EPL?

[Hibercelona]

Man United

Seriously though. Probably Man City.

[Northernhibee]

Liverpool. Full of confidence and nothing to lose.

[Pete]

It will be a team who are partly financed by glory hunters who have nothing to do with the area where the team is from. They'll also be financed by the TV fatties who pour scorn and ridicule their own national game while salivating over foreign teams.

Sorry, it'll probably be Chelsea. :greengrin:

[Eyrie]

At this stage in the season it's points collected rather than games in hand that are most important, and I can't see Mourinho letting Chelsea trip up again, so it has to be them.

[Hibercelona]

Keep in mind that City have 3 games in hand over the leaders and 2 over Arsenal and Liverpool. Not to mention that they currently hold the best GD stat in the league at 44.

[patch1875]

Can't see past city. Lots of teams involved at the bottom also.

[HibeeLR]

Will be close between Chelsea and City. Can't see arsenal or Liverpool winning it

[yeezus.]

I hope Chelsea prove me wrong but I reckon Manchester City will win it.

[heretoday]

Liverpool or City.

[Sir David Gray]

Manchester City.

[ruthven_raiders]

Manchester City.

Man city and Chelsea still to go to liverpool, so going to be some finish.

[Sir David Gray]

Man city and Chelsea still to go to liverpool, so going to be some finish.

I don't want to contemplate the possibility that Liverpool might win the league.

[BOB MARLEYS DUG]

Praying Liverpool. If not, Chelski.

[leither17]

Liverpool

[Michael]

Would prefer Arsenal to win...if not Liverpool. Unfortunately, I think it will be City...if not Chelsea.

At least there's a handful of teams that are in the running this year. If only that was the case in the Scottish Prem!

[theonlywayisup]

Bound to be Liverpool.

With Suarez and Sturridge, who needs Tom Dailey!!!

[frazeHFC]

I want it to be Liverpool, but I think it will be City.

[OsloHibs]

I put Arsenal, but will be Chelsea.

[Speedy]

Chelsea. Draw with Liverpool and win the rest.

Arsenal aren't good enough (injuries aren't helping)

City have lots of games to come, some very tough away games and will miss Aguero.

Liverpool. Could be up there but reckon they'll be edged out.

[SteveHFC]

Liverpool

[MWHIBBIES]

Chelsea. Draw with Liverpool and win the rest.

Arsenal aren't good enough (injuries aren't helping)

City have lots of games to come, some very tough away games and will miss Aguero.

Liverpool. Could be up there but reckon they'll be edged out.Absolute rubbish, if a team, any team, is that close to the title at this point then they are good enough to win it.

[Speedy]

Absolute rubbish, if a team, any team, is that close to the title at this point then they are good enough to win it.

I think they can win it but I don't think they will because I don't think they are good enough to beat Chelsea or Man City.

[easty]

Bound to be Liverpool.

With Suarez and Sturridge, who needs Tom Dailey!!!

It's been pretty quiet in the media about Sturridges dive for the third pen. If that had been Suarez he'd be getting slaughtered.

[ManBearPig]

Newcastle!!







oops sorry thought it was 1997 for a min then.

[Alex Trager]

I want arsenal or Liverpool to win it.

I don't think they will but I really hope so. Would be great to see

[jdships]

[QUOTE=BOB MARLEYS DUG;3934336]Praying Liverpool. If not, Chelski.[/QUOTE

:agree::thumbsup:

[johnrebus]

If City can lose at home to Wigan, they will drop points in the run in.

If Arsenal can win at Chelsea this weekend and take something from City at the Emirates, they have a chance.


:agree:

[Iggy Pope]

I think they can win it but I don't think they will because I don't think they are good enough to beat Chelsea or Man City.

Arsenal could beat neither and still win the league.

Brendan Rogers was quick to point out yesterday that Liverpool could win all their remaining games and still not win the title.

[Iggy Pope]

I don't want to contemplate the possibility that Liverpool might win the league.

At least you are not making any rash pledges.

[MWHIBBIES]

I think they can win it but I don't think they will because I don't think they are good enough to beat Chelsea or Man City.Fair enough but they might not need to, win every other game and with Ramsey back they certainly can.

[SouthamptonHibs]

Would defo like to see Liverpool win it, some of the games this year have been quality to watch. Thumped United 3-0, Arsenal 5-1, Everton 4-0 and Spurs 5-0

[Purple & Green]

Experience of going the course is vital - it'll be citeh or Chelsea, very likely citeh

[Scouse Hibee]

Liverpool can still win it, at this stage of the season that is not something I have been able to say recently! For that reason alone I am excited :greengrin

[Scouse Hibee]

The Beatles might have reached top spot with Can't Buy Me Love , but Liverpool FC (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/liverpool%20fc)boss Brendan Rodgers (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/brendan%20rodgers) is looking to reach the summit with his own take on it.
Money, the Northern Irishman says, doesn't necessarily buy you success.
In the modern game, it is the fiercest of dichotomies. Short ball versus long ball, possession versus counter attack, good versus evil. All have now been usurped by the battle between teams who spent a lot and teams who spend a little.
“Clubs spend a billion quid and it does not guarantee anything. We will be in the market for good and top players, but there is more to it than that,” Rodgers said.
“Once you put your ideas in place and once the players start to crack it, then we will have success. Money can’t buy that.”
A history of the Premier League, at least, would suggest otherwise. Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea and Manchester City all won the title with strong financial backing, while Manchester United are third in the all-time list of net spend.
The Reds are fourth in that list, and to portray them as paupers would be wrong – only Chelsea and City have spent more on transfers than Liverpool since 1992, while those two and United are the only two above them in terms of net spend.
But given the financial clout of both Chelsea and City, and when considering the steps taken by Fenway Sports Group to offer more value for money at Anfield on the pitch, the Reds' second-place position very much agrees with Rodgers' viewpoint.
According to the reliable Transfermarkt website, Liverpool's squad this season costs a combined total of £175m in transfer fees.
Granted, that does not take into consideration wages spent, while transfer figures are an approximation based on whatever information is available.
But it helps to confirm how Liverpool are not part of the highest echelon of league spenders; they are sixth in terms of squad cost, close to Arsenal and Spurs, but far away from City, Chelsea and United.
Chelsea's squad cost £345m, while City's currently amounts to £380m – the highest in the division. United (£335m), Tottenham (£205m) and Arsenal (£185m) also possesses more expensive squads than Liverpool.
Net figures – taking income and subtracting it from expenditure - is also a useful gauge when correlating success with spend.
In the past decade, seven of the eventual champions were among the top three in terms of net spend, although only Chelsea - in their back-to-back title wins of 2005 and 2006 – were top of both the football and net spend table.
That does ignore City in 2012 however, who were second in net spend for 2011/12, but did spend nearly £200m over the 24 months previous.
This season, Liverpool are 10th with £21.2m net spend; the purchases of Mamadou Sakho (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/mamadou%20sakho) and Simon Mignolet (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/simon%20mignolet) are balanced with the sales of Jonjo Shelvey, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing.
Of the teams who finished above them last season, four have a higher net spend this season. City have spent a net amount of £92m, while United (£68m), Chelsea (£49.5m) and Arsenal (£34m) also surpassed the Reds.
Meanwhile, Tottenham's £3.3m profit is aided by a world record transfer fee for Gareth Bale; Everton, as usual, performed well in the market and made £15.7m.
In the Anfield club's pursuit of a first title for 24 years, Rodgers may take heart from United's efforts in 2007.
Despite Chelsea's consecutive championships – curated by Jose Mourinho, but aided by Roman Abramovich – United won the title in 2007 even though their outlay was just £4.1m, the 13th highest.
Ultimately, Rodgers is right. Money does not automatically equate to success - there must be coaching to supplement it.
To simply attribute money to the success of Blackburn, Chelsea or City does disservice to the managerial abilities of Kenny Dalglish (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/kenny%20dalglish), Mourinho and Roberto Mancini. Queens Park Rangers spent nearly £43m and finished bottom of the Premier League last season, after all.
“It is about coaching and man-management and dealing with people,” Rodgers added. “Having a great staff. Finding a cause for the players to fight for. All of that comes into it and that is something we have done in the period I have been here.”
Luis Suarez (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/luis%20suarez) cost the Reds £22.8m but his value increases, to extraordinary levels, with every shimmy and nutmeg; Daniel Sturridge (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/daniel%20sturridge), a £12m signing from Chelsea, is now worth over double that.
The values of Raheem Sterling (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/raheem%20sterling) and Philippe Coutinho (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/philippe%20coutinho) have rocketed too, while very few would now find fault with the fee Liverpool paid for Jordan Henderson (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/jordan%20henderson), one who is an integral part of the set-up.
Still, to find themselves so prominent in a title race after spending so little this summer is an achievement. Across Europe's top five leagues, both last season's and this season's leaders are prominent spenders.
Paris St-Germain made a transfer loss of nearly £130m last season, and have been outspent by Monaco alone this year; in Spain, champions Barcelona spent more than anybody in 2012, while current leaders Real Madrid outspent the rest of the league last summer.
Juventus were Italy's highest spenders last season (though making a profit for this season), while Bayern spent £61.5m to wrestle the Bundesliga back from Borussia Dortmund in 2012/13.
But while English football does appear have a hierarchical structure, where the richest clubs remain at the top, the continent proves it is possible to reach the climb the mountain without fingers made of gold and silver.
Dortmund are one of the most prominent examples, winning the Bundesliga in 2010/11 by spending a net total of £1.85m. Top goalscorer Lucas Barrios, signed from Chilean side Colo Colo in 2009, cost just £3.7m. A season later, Dortmund retained the title despite Bayern outlaying over £40m in transfer spend.
Rafael Benitez's Valencia won their first La Liga title for 31 years in 2002, despite making a transfer profit of £33.5m – largely attributed to Gaizka Mendieta's big-money move to Lazio. Two seasons later, Los Che would do it again, winning the title while making £.3.1m.
It is also happening this season. Though Atletico Madrid and Roma are not top of their respective leagues, they have looked to challenge – an impressive feat given Atletico have made a profit of £38.5m this season, while Roma have accumulated £36m in transfer fees.
Of course, the Reds' net spend of just over £20m cannot compare to that – but in comparison with those they are battling with, it is evident that money doesn't mean everything.
It sometimes can. Roma won Serie A in 2001 after spending £84m, while the modern examples of Chelsea and PSG also demonstrate how crucial funds can be.
But Liverpool are coping just fine without excessive spending. Detractors will reference the summer of 2011, and the purchase of Carroll in that January – but of those signed in that six-month period, only Jose Enrique, Sebastian Coates, Henderson and Suarez remain.
Comparisons with Dortmund have been made in recent weeks, both on and off the pitch - to win trophies in spite of the financial backing of rivals would further add to those.
Money doesn't buy you trophies, but it can help – so, too, can good management and improving players. The Reds, and Rodgers, will hope the latter proves stronger than anything else.

[Pete]

Money doesn't buy you trophies, but it can help – so, too, can good management and improving players. The Reds, and Rodgers, will hope the latter proves stronger than anything else.

One thing that's been proven is that a combination of the three: money, good management and improving players virtually guarantees success. City and Chelsea are machines and when it all clicks it's pretty hard to stop them. It's more difficult for Arsenal and Liverpool as they simply don't have the resources...which has been proven to effect consistency towards the business end of the season.

Liverpool won't win the league as the big boys will come to Anfield and spoil the party. :boo hoo:

It will be good seeing them back in the champions league though. They always seem to do well in that tournament and it's as if the crowd seem to put wind in the teams sails.

[emerald green]

Anybody except Chelsea. Can't stand that arrogant t*** Mourinho. Hope Arsenal win it, but they probably wont.

[Speedy]

Well I fancied Chelsea to win 1-0, didn't see that coming.

[OsloHibs]

I tipped Arsenal.. siiiiiigh.

[Alex Trager]

What's the thinking here? Liverpool fans starting to dream? Surely

[The_Exile]

It's in Liverpools hands now, win their remaining games and they are champions, City and Chelsea both have to go to Anfield, an exciting title run in, not had one of those in a while!

[Swedish hibee]

The City v Liverpool game in 2 weeks is gonna be the big test.

[21.05.2016]

I'm a liverpool fan so obviously i would LOVE it to be Liverpool but think City will just nick it.

[Scouse Hibee]

It's finally a reality that Liverpool can win the title, I never thought I would have to wait so long since our last league win to say that but finally I can. Win all remaining games and the title is ours..................................oh how I dream of seeing it again.

[Speedy]

Chelsea. Draw with Liverpool and win the rest.

Arsenal aren't good enough (injuries aren't helping)

City have lots of games to come, some very tough away games and will miss Aguero.

Liverpool. Could be up there but reckon they'll be edged out.

I won't stray too far from this but the defeat to Palace means a draw at Liverpool might not be enough for Chelsea. Champions League won't do them any favours either.

It's going to be tight, the Liverpool games against Man City and Chelsea are going to be huge.

[lugz]

The closer the season gets to the end the more I fancy liverpool to win it. As said before the games at anfield are massive, IMO liverpool will beat Chelsea so the city game is vital.

[emerald green]

With fresh inquests about to be heard into the deaths of 96 fans in the Hillsborough disaster, I think it would be great if Liverpool were to be champions this year.

[Eyrie]

What's the thinking here? Liverpool fans starting to dream? Surely

I'm thinking that Chelsea were doomed as soon as I voted for them.